


Surprise

by Woodlie



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Gen, idk what else to really tag, that's basically all there is to this story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 22:56:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11565075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woodlie/pseuds/Woodlie
Summary: The smile quickly dropped when he saw both Ned and MJ staring with shocked expressions at something behind him. Had Liz come back for some weird reason? Maybe she hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye to someone on the team? Or maybe Adrian Toomes had escaped custody and was attempting revenge? Peter spun around in his seat, expecting the worst, but was only met with overwhelming confusion.Tony Stark was in Midtown High’s library, and he was walking in Peter’s direction.Or: alternate ending to Spider-Man: Homecoming





	Surprise

As soon as Mr. Harrington said that the decathlon team was in need of a new captain, Peter’s mind immediately went to the worst possible person for the role: Flash. He knew he was already on thin ice with the entire team for bailing, and if Flash was miraculously named leader, he would never be allowed a second chance. Of course, there was almost no possibility that Flash of all people would get the role. According to Ned, he hadn’t answered a single question when he had to fill in his placement as alternative, and had been bragging non-stop about how the team had won. The only person less likely to get captain was Peter himself.

In truth, Peter was surprised that the decathlon team had even allowed him into the meeting. He hadn’t had a good record with consistency since he started taking up more patrols, and skipping nationals hadn’t helped his case. However, Mr. Harrington had graciously told Peter that there would be practice in the library after school if he wanted to join the team again next year.

“Michelle will be our new team captain,” Mr. Harrington announced. Peter thought that it was a big change from Liz to Michelle. Liz had always been encouraging for people to join the team and gain experiences that would help the team prepare for their lives. Michelle was more interested in a book than partnership.

Peter glanced at Michelle, who seemed moderately astounded that she had been named captain. Clearly, she had also been thinking someone else would be given the role. Of course, she had probably been thinking more along the lines of Abraham, and not the most insufferable person on the team.

Recovering quickly, she said: “Actually, my friends call me MJ.” She shifted in her seat, straightening so she could address the room and not her usual comments to just Ned and Peter.

“But I thought you didn’t have any friends,” Ned pointed out. MJ slouched faintly at his comment, and for a second Peter thought that Ned had somehow hurt her feelings. The thought vanished when she smiled at Ned.

“I didn’t.”

Even Flash looked vaguely touched.

“Since I didn’t give you any warning,” Mr. Harrington started, “I took care of the practice questions for today. Here.” He slid the flash cards across the table and MJ quickly flicked through them.

“Okay.” She angled her chair away from Ned so he couldn’t see the answers. “What is the ecosystem where the river meets the ocean?”

Peter didn’t have the incredible suit that Mr. Stark had given him. That didn’t mean he couldn’t kick ass. He looked stupid doing it - yes, that was true - but his fight with Adrian Toomes had proven that he could accomplish extraordinary achievements on his own. Maybe that was what Mr. Stark had been trying to tell Peter when he took the suit away. Spider-Man was important to people, but so was Peter Parker. Can’t have one without the other, right? So if that meant spending more time as Peter instead of starting his patrol as soon as he got out of school, well, no one could really judge him.

“Estuary,” he answered confidently, smiling. The smile quickly dropped when he saw both Ned and MJ staring with shocked expressions at something behind him. Had Liz come back for some weird reason? Maybe she hadn’t had the chance to say goodbye to someone on the team? Or maybe Adrian Toomes had escaped custody and was attempting revenge? Peter spun around in his seat, expecting the worst, but was only met with overwhelming confusion.

Tony Stark was in Midtown High’s library, and he was walking in Peter’s direction. Why the /hell/ was he in Peter’s school? If Mr. Stark had needed him, he could’ve just had Happy text Peter. It didn’t look like it was a mission call, though. Mr. Stark didn’t seem in a hurry and there was no sign of the Iron Man suit (but that didn’t mean he didn’t somehow have a suit with him). Happy was with him, a vanilla file in hand, but had obviously been told to keep his distance from Mr. Stark. He was trailing behind him by at least eight feet. Just enough to make him noticeably uncomfortable.

“Holy _shit_ ,” Flash whispered.

Peter swiveled back to the table and saw that everyone on the decathlon team had completely given up on practice. Ned glanced at him pointedly, as if accusing Peter that he had known the Mr. Stark would be showing up. Before Peter could give Ned the ‘why wouldn’t I tell you if I knew?’ look, there was a hand grasping his shoulder and shaking it.

“Peter!” Mr. Stark said. “Sorry for barging in on your practice.” He let go of Peter’s shoulder and strode to the other side of the table, directly across from Mr. Harrington. He didn’t seem genuinely apologetic, but then again, he never was. “But I decided that I needed to give you this.” He pointed to Happy.

“Am I allowed to come closer now?” Happy asked, scowling. He dropped the file onto the table directly in front of Peter.

“That’s good. Now back up again,” Mr. Stark said. Happy frowned. “Boundaries are good.” With a sigh, Happy backed away until he was next to a different set of chairs. Mr. Stark turned back to Peter. “You can take those home, of course. Review them with your aunt. Or we could discuss the terms of your internship over dinner.”

Before Peter’s brain could tell him not to speak, he blurted out: “Internship?”

Mr. Stark rolled his eyes. “Yes. The internship that you’ve been working at for two months. Remember that? I don’t want you running off to some company like Oscorp. You can do so much better than that.” He looked around the table. “Life lesson for all you guys: don’t work for Oscorp. Well?” The last part was addressed towards Peter.

“What?” Sometimes it was hard to keep up with the conversation when Mr. Stark was talking to multiple people.

“Dinner tonight. Can’t have a creep like Norman Osborn swooping in and offering you a ‘better’ opportunity.” Mr. Stark snorted, and Peter couldn’t help but think that was a bit unfair. Although Oscorp didn’t have nearly the same amount of technological advances like Stark Industries, they /had/ created the spider that ended up giving Peter his powers.

“Oh! Well - I, uh,” Peter started but was cut off by Abraham.

“Take the offer,” he advised, staring at Peter like he was insane. Maybe Peter was crazy, and there was some weird dream where _Tony Freakin’ Stark_  came to his school, talking about two reputable companies fighting for _him_  to intern at.

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed.

“Perfect.” Mr. Stark turned back to Happy. “Grab his bag and let’s go.”

Happy looked affronted that he was being asked to carry around Peter’s _backpack_ , but for some reason didn’t attempt to put up a fight like he usually did whenever he was asked to get something of Peter’s.

“Wait, Mr. Stark.” He swiveled to face Peter. “I - I can’t just leave. I have practice.” He gestured to dumbfounded team.

“Peter,” Mr. Harrington started before he paused, as if he was thinking over his words. “Just - just go. Make sure you make it to the next meeting, though.”

Peter nodded quickly, scooping up the file and standing up. Mr. Stark was already making his way towards the exit of the library, but Happy stayed next to him.

“This everything?” Happy asked, lifting the backpack up.

“Yeah,” Peter agreed.

Happy nodded and went in the same direction as Mr. Stark. Peter made to follow but was stopped by Flash.

“So like, you _actually_  know Tony Stark,” he said.

Peter glanced around the room, mulling over what he should do. He could tell the somewhat truth, and say that he didn’t know Mr. Stark that well, and had only talked to him a handful of times. Or he could lie and say that Mr. Stark worked with him personally. Judging by Ned’s expression, the latter was along the lines of what he wanted Peter to say. Peter thought of a third option: deflection.

“Why would I lie about knowing Mr. Stark?” he asked incredulously. He turned to Ned. “I’ll swing by your place tonight.” Ned smiled and nodded.

“Kid,” Happy called from his place by the door. “Hurry up or he’s going to leave without you.”

“Bye, guys,” Peter said, only really addressing Ned and MJ, who had been staring at him skeptically ever since Mr. Stark had left.

He had to jog in order to catch up with Happy, who didn’t seem happy that he was being chased by a teenager. Oh, well. He didn’t make any moves to get away from Peter so he counted it as a win.

It was easy to identify which car was Mr. Stark’s. Mostly because very few people would drive an Audi R8 in a place like New York City, and Mr. Stark was one of those people. He slid into the backseat of the car and came face to face with the man himself. Mr. Stark had taken his sunglasses off, and he nodded towards the file that was in Peter’s hands.

“Open it,” he suggested. The first piece of paper was an application form for a Stark Industries internship. Peter looked up confusedly. “Kid,” Mr. Stark started before he seemed to decide that it would be easier to simply flip to the correct page himself. He leaned over and flicked through multiple pages of Stark Industries terms and conditions before he found the right page.

A different model of the Spider-Man suit was on the paper. With the new color scheme, Peter might’ve guessed it wasn’t meant for him. Maybe a new War Machine suit? It wasn’t likely, but it could be a possibility. But the spider symbol on the center of the chest was enough to tell Peter that it was meant for him.

“You taking down Adrian Toomes was risky,” Mr. Stark started, “but it proved that you deserve that suit. If you’re going to be facing threats like this, you’ll need training and people to back you up. That’s why I want to offer you a spot on the Avengers team.”

Holy shit. Mr. Stark was actually asking him to be on the Avengers! He would fight alongside them and train with them!

But Mr. Stark didn’t live in New York City. Some place upstate, according to Happy. He couldn’t go to Midtown. He couldn’t build a Lego death star with Ned. He wouldn’t be on the decathlon team. He would lose all that. But he _would_  be an Avenger.

But Aunt May wouldn’t be able to say goodnight to him and hug him, like she did every night. She could call him, sure, but how would it be the same?

“Mr. Stark,” Peter started, but stopped. How could he say _no_? Say no, he would prefer to be called lame, that he would prefer to be called Penis Parker (well, hopefully that would end after today), prefer to be a teenager. In truth, Peter didn’t prefer that. He preferred stopping bike robbers and helping old ladies with directions. He preferred movie nights with Aunt May.

Mr. Stark was staring at him, and Peter suddenly remember that he was waiting for him to continue talking. “I think I’d rather stick to being a neighborhood Spider-Man before I join the big leagues.”

It was clear that Mr. Stark was not used to being told no. He glanced at Happy - who was sat in the front seat and pretending not to be listening to the conversation - before turning his attention back to Peter. He couldn’t help but shrink back ever so slightly under his gaze.

“You sure?” he asked. Peter wasn’t positive if he wanted to turn this opportunity down, but after his fight with Adrian Toomes, he was sure that he needed more experience before the fate of the world was placed in his hands.

“Yes,” Peter said with as much conviction as possible.

“Alright,” Mr. Stark agreed easily, putting his sunglasses back on.

Peter took that as his cue to get out of the vehicle, but stopped when Mr. Stark started to speak. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“Well, I figured we were done here?” What else could there be to talk about?

“I already told you. We’re getting dinner. It’s a bit of an early dinner, true, but with your metabolism, I figured it wouldn’t be a problem.”

They were actually getting food? Peter had assumed that was an excuse so he wouldn’t have to go back into the decathlon meeting. It wasn’t like what Mr. Stark had said was wrong, either. Peter was usually hungry, and couldn’t risk eating too much in front of his aunt in case she got suspicious. He idly wondered if Mr. Stark was referring to his enhanced metabolism due to his powers, or his plain teenage metabolism. Either way, Peter wasn’t about to turn down free food.

“Oh, yeah. Of course,” he agreed, quickly buckling his seat belt.

“Happy,” Mr. Stark started, but was cut off.

“On it,” Happy said, pulling out of his parking spot.

* * *

 

“Oh, by the way,” Mr. Stark said as Peter was exiting the Audi R8. “There’s a surprise for you inside.”

Before Peter could even begin to think about what _that_  meant, Mr. Stark pulled the door shut and Happy sped off. He blankly thought that maybe it was more food (like he said, he had a really fast metabolism) before he realized there was a logical surprise. Maybe Mr. Stark had given him back his suit.

He broke out into a sprint, momentarily forgetting that the front doors were pull, not push. He didn’t even feel the usual twinge of embarrassment that occurred whenever he did that (it was an unfortunately common occurrence). When he got into the apartment, he quickly made sure that Aunt May hadn’t arrived home yet before he went into his room.

A brown paper bag sat on his bed with a simple “- TS” scrawled on it. In his excitement, Peter accidentally tore the bag, but quickly dismissed any regrets about not having better control over his strength when he saw the contents in the bag. He swiftly pulled off his clothes so he could wiggle his way into the suit. Maybe he could get a quick patrol in. In his enthusiasm, he didn’t hear Aunt May opening the front door and calling out to see if he was home. Finally in his suit, Peter turned towards the window so he could climb out, but was quickly stopped by a voice in his doorway.

“What the fuck?”

Surprise.

**Author's Note:**

> hopefully i did the line break right. i'm pretty sure i did but then again there's always the chance that i messed it up. if i didn't do it right i'll just put some dashes in there and it'll be alright
> 
> i hope tony asking peter to come dinner didn't come off creepy? it definitely wasn't my intention for it to come off that way but i guess it can be taken as that?
> 
> i know i didn't get most of the dialogue that was in the movie correct. sorry about that, but i'm pretty sure i got it pretty close?
> 
> anyway spider-man was amazing. loved tom holland's acting and his portrayal of the character. his acting in the impossible was very impressive, and i'm also excited to see his acting in pilgrimage
> 
> feel free to point out any mistakes i might've made
> 
> i have a [tumblr](https://woodlie.tumblr.com/) (woodlie) that you can go check out if you want
> 
> thanks for reading!


End file.
